Marina beach, having the second largest coastline in the world, has its own facets and one can watch a humpty number of characters loitering in and around the beach; be it the chirpy love birds, small time business men, rich and affluent who want to spend time with their family and many more. Also, this place is an abode for the poor and downtrodden, who toil hard to make a living out there.

Director Pandiraj has delved into the lives and times of the kids who land up in Chennai from various rural hubs in Tamil Nadu and try to survive the test of times at the Marina beach by doing odd jobs like selling snacks, shells and other stuffs. For Pandiraj, this is the second movie on kids and has done a fairly decent job at it, with some minor hiccups.

The strength and weakness (to some extent) of the movie were the numerous characters in it and the way they were portrayed.

Strength is that the director had managed well to cast and extract work from each character – be it the way the chirpy lovers Sivakarthikeyan and Oviya visiting the beach and parting ways more often than not; the madman who often catches our attention with his anger towards the lovers; the old beggar (Sundararajan) and his sentimental past; the father and daughter combo of musicians and last but not the least, the gang of Lilliputians, each one having their own identity and a sad story.

The weakness is that after a certain point of time, it gets tedious to get hooked with the gimmicks of those kids and the movie turns a bit melodramatic. Also, some unnecessary songs and a race competition towards the climax add to the woes in the second half. Also there were some unnecessary scenes like the 2 police men landing in Chennai, only to chase down a kid to make him apologise to their superior’s son.

When it comes to performance, numerous faces standout tall:

1. ‘Pakoda’ Pandi, did a brilliant job as the small town boy. Very well essayed the emotions through his eyes and his dialog delivery were good. Has got a promising future as a child artiste.
2. The guy who portrayed Pandi’s friend also grabbed attention with his quick wit and repartee.
3. The beggar Sundararajan, though making his debut, seems to be an experienced campaigner and does a neat job.
4. The pair of Sivakarthikeyan and Oviya managed to strike a crackling chemistry and tickle our nerves at much needed times.
5. The guy who was portrayed as Sivakarthikeyan’s friend, had a character of his own and also a good sense of timing
6. The young girl who danced to her father’s tunes literally, had all her emotions stacked up on her face while she moved – impressed.
7. ‘Chithan’ Mohan as the postman, had lived his role with conviction.

Cinematography by Vijay was fantastic; especially the shots in the title song sequence with the sepia toned skyline of the beach were a touch of class. The night shots of the beach and the traffic were exquisite and a pleasure to watch.

Editing could have been better and one would wish that the movie could have been crisper, especially during the second half.

Music by debutante Girish was average on the whole, while ‘Vanakkam Vazhavaikum Chennai’, the title song was catchy and might turn out to be a hit number.

On the whole, director Pandiraj had taken our hands and asked us to come along with him on a stroll at the ‘Marina’ beach. While getting rejuvenated with the hint of fresh air, I would have wished him to move a bit faster with some focus.

Verdict: Above Average

Rating: 2.5/5